Spend My Life With You
by Ladybug-Jojo
Summary: Alicia and Peter story set one year after a Very Merrry Christmas... was my birthday present to Terri... back in the spring... the title pretty much sums up the story line...


_Okay this story is set in the same time line as A Very Merry Christmas Indeed. Meaning Alicia and Peter met the same way as in that one. And the first part of their relationship is the same as in that one. This is set 1 year after that one. _

**Spend my life with you**

_Can I just see you every morning when  
I open my eyes  
Can I just feel your heart beating beside me  
Every night  
Can we just feel this way together  
Till the end of all time  
Can I just spend my life with you_

Peter and Alicia walked through a snow covered park in Chicago, hand in hand.

Peter had brought her back home for Christmas once again, just like he had last year. Last year it had been because his parents had wanted to be introduced to his girlfriend. This year it had more to do with the fact that neither one of them wanted to be apart. They had spent thanksgiving with Alicia's mother and they would be spending New Year's eve with her father in New York. Alicia had been gracious about it and said that she knew how much Christmas meant to his family so she had insisted that they went here for that, and they could to hers for the two other holidays. Peter was more than a little impressed by this. After all Alicia didn't really get on that well with his mother, not that it said a lot, as she almost got along worse with her own mother. His father on the other hand was crazy about her. One of his first comments to Alicia had been why she was spending her time on Peter, then she could do so much better. And he had meant it. Especially since he had later on in private told Peter that he should hold on to her, and not to let her get away. Peter had told him he knew that and he would never let her go.

Peter had gotten along rather well with Alicia's father (as well as her stepfather), who was impressed with him, and even more with his love for Alicia. Her brother was a different subject matter, while Alicia was not exactly best friends with his own sister, they at least understood speaking to each other on civil terms, and act like adults around each other.

Alicia's gay brother Owen on the other hand was hard to get along with. He was pretty much a jerk. And though Peter had tried to nice and win him over, he had not succeeded. Alicia had told him not to bother, Owen was like that with everybody. To say that it had been an interesting meeting, this summer as their parents had met each other for the first time would have been a joke, and a really bad one as well. Their fathers had gotten along well, and his father had also gotten somewhat along with Alicia's mother and new husband, but that was also where things stopped. Their mothers didn't get along at _all_. His mother had seem to think a little bit more of Alicia, after meeting her mother. That was probably the best thing that had come out of the meeting. Alicia's mother and Alicia was like night and day. So Alicia looked more or less like a saint the moment you met the mother who was an old hippie, and still had those values and wasn't scared to tell others. Peter knew his girlfriend was no saint, but she was sweet, kind, loving, generous, brilliant, smart, clever, beautiful, caring and amazing. Okay he was very much in love with her, and might be wearing rose color glasses then he looked at her. But she really was those things. Her mother on the other hand was a bitch, there was no other words for it. She criticize her daughter's every decision, her future plans, her choices in life, _everything_. He had even overheard a fight between them once where her mother told her to dumb him, saying Alicia would never do anything in life if she followed that road. He had also heard Alicia answering that at least her life was turning out better than her mother's, and she would at least care about what was best for her children and what they wished someday, and try to understand them, something Cecilia Roberts had never done. He also knew that one of the biggest problems between mother and daughter was the many boyfriends Cecilia had over the years. One of which she had married last spring. The first time Peter had met her had been at her wedding. Her new husband was a good guy, who both Alicia and him liked. They had actually talked about how none of them understood what he was doing with her mother.

Right now they were taking a walk on the 24th of December. It had been snowing for days, but today it was not as heavy as the other days, so they had both wanted to get out a little and enjoy it. There was a dinner party tonight they had to participant in, so they knew they couldn't stay out long, but they had still sneaked away for a little while. Peter had brought her to a park and was leading her to a lake there. He knew how beautiful it would be covered in snow, and the lake frozen. Something he knew Alicia would like. He held her hand as they walked, but his other hand was fingering something in his pocket. Something he had been walking around with for a month now, but still hadn't collected the courage to give her. He knew he shouldn't worry, and that she loved him. She had never hinted anything else, ever since the first time she said it. However he was still nervous, because he had the same thought that his father had teased her with once: _what was she doing with him, when she could do so much better_. Really what in the world was someone as amazing and fantastic as Alicia doing with him, she could have anyone, but had chosen him. No, Peter did not understand that, and he really was scared she would realize that someday, or realize it in that moment he asked her something like this. He had been a mess last July as he asked her to move in with him, and felt like the luckiest guy on earth when she accepted. He had felt a lot less lucky when he had to explain to his mother, they had moved in together, after all his mother was the one who had insisted on them sleeping in separate bedrooms last year over Christmas, and again this year. Something Alicia and him found hilarious, especially this year then she knew they lived together in D.C. Of course they hadn't stuck to the rule. He was sneaking in to her bedroom every night and leaving again before his parents got up.

However nervous he had been asking her that, this was so much worse, he really was scared that the moment he uttered those four important words, she would realize he wasn't worth having that kind of relationship with. However he knew he had to try, because there was nothing he wanted more, than spending the rest of his life with Alicia by his side. She was everything to him, his best friend, his confident, his partner, his lover, his soul-mate if such a thing existed.

"Hey this way." He told her as he guided her to the lake side. He heard her gasp a little as the lake came into view.

"This is amazing." Alicia said as she looked at the landscape in front of her. "It is beautiful."

Peter nodded slightly.

"It is." He said but he was looking at her, rather than at the breathtaking scene. She turned around to him.

"You are not even looking at it!" She reprimanded him teasingly.

"I have seen it before. But I am glad you liked it. I hated that it was raining all the time, last year in stead of snowing, so I did not get to show you." He told her.

"Well it is beautiful. Thank you for taking me here." She told him and turned to face the scene once again.

"You are welcome." He told her. Nothing could have made him happier than the smile that was now adoring her face, well almost nothing, the ring in his pocket resting on her finger instead, would have topped it. But he really was happy that he had been able to make her smile like this.

For a month he had tried to find the perfect time to ask her. Even before buying the ring he had spend the two months before trying to come up with the perfect way to ask her. He had thought about expensive restaurants, with the ring placed within her drink or in her dessert. About asking her in front of all her friends at Georgetown in the middle of one of her lecture halls, after he had picked her up after class. In front of her family at Thanksgiving, in front of his family tomorrow or tonight, at midnight at New Years eve. Giving her the ring as a Christmas present. He had also thought about cooking her dinner and asking her there, asking her in front of Tiffany and Co, while they were in New York for New Years. Asking her in front of Jefferson's or Lincoln's memorial in D.C. places he knew she loved. Asking her at the Reflexion pool, that one had probably been his best idea so far, and he had almost asked her there, if they had not been interrupted of no other than Will Gardner and a couple of her other friends, just as he had collected enough courage to ask her.

However standing here with her looking over the lake, he had no idea why he had not thought of it before. Alicia did not want grand things with lots of attention. She did not want expensive things she always told him. She would much rather have him make her dinner, than bring her to some kind of expensive restaurant. He kept telling her, he would do stuff like that for her if she wanted it, but she never did. Over time he had realized she was honest then she said that, compared to most other women he had known in the past. Just like the first time, they had made love had been in her bedroom, and not some expensive hotel room or after an expensive dinner, no it had been after take out pizza. He liked that about her, it was something he was not used to at home. His lmother always wanted expensive things, she had once gotten angry because the earrings his father had given her for their anniversary had not been expensive enough, Alicia was not like that at all. However had he wanted to do this right, after all he had heard about how some of her friends had gotten engaged. And he really did want to give her the same treatment, and show her that he loved her more than anything. However looking at her now, the happiness on her face, her cheeks slightly red because of the cold, he knew he couldn't go on another moment without asking her.

"Alicia..." He nervously whispered. She turned to face, with a big smile on her face and shinning eyes.

"Yes?" She answered, looking at him. Peter stepped up to her. While pulling of his gloves.

"You should not be taking those off. You will get frost bites." She told him affectionately. Peter nodded slightly, but continued to stow the gloves into his pocket. He took hold of one of her hands, squeezing it lightly in his palm while looking at it.

"Okay, Peter you are making me nervous. What is going on? Please tell me you are not about to break up with me..." Alicia whispered. While trying to catch his gaze. He lifted his head looking into her eyes.

"I am not. Alicia, I love you. Then I look at you, I see my best friend and my partner. You mean everything to me. Sometimes I wake up while you are still asleep and I just look at you. You are so amazing. And I feel so lucky because you are with me." He told her.

"I love you too." She answered without hesitation. Peter leaned down ad kissed her softly on the lips, before pulling back. He carefully lowered himself to the ground. Alicia's eyes started to widen as she realized what was going on. He bended one of his knees as he pulled the little black velvet box out of his pocket.

"Alicia Thérèse Cavanaugh, you are the love of my life. Will you please do me the honer of becoming my wife? And spend your life with me, and build our future together? Alicia, will you marry me? " He finally asked, looking into her eyes. Eyes which were full of tears, that had already started to run down her cheeks. The hand he was not holding, she was using to cover her mouth with. And then he felt his heart skip a beat as he saw her nod her head yes.

"Yes. Yes, of course I will." She whispered. "You will?" He asked, needing to be completely sure. Alicia nodded her head viciously. "I will. I would love to become your wife." She told him. Peter let go off her hand so he could open the box and get the ring out. She took of her glove so he could put the ring on her. "It is perfect." She whispered as he sled the diamond ring onto her finger. "No, You are perfect, Alicia." He told her, as he got up from the ground. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her close and kissing her. As he pulled back he rested his forehead against hers. "Thank you." He whispered. He hugged her close to his body for a short moment, before surprising her once more and picking her up, swinging her around in a circle. She laughed at him as he placed her back on the ground again, and kissed her once more, before hugging her again. "I love you so much." He whispered against her hair. "And I love you, Peter." She whispered back. Her face pressed into his jacket.

They stood there for a while with the snow, falling around them, not caring about, what was really going on around them, because of the peace in that moment. None of them knew what they would have to go through later on in their life, and if someone had told them, they would both have laughed and said that would never happen. After all how could things like that ever happen to them.


End file.
